Rwanda By Ellie Howard
When thinking about how nationalism and inequality played out in Rwanda, one example immediately comes to mind: the Rwandan Genocide. Starting in 1994 and lasting only 100 days, the Rwandan genocide was the product of a clash of identities and systematic inequality. Before looking at the genocide, we must first look at the forty-year colonization of Rwanda by Belgium that occurred from 1922 to 1962. Under Belgium’s rule, the divisions between the ethnic groups of Hutus, Tutsis, and Twas solidified through the use of an ID card system. The colonial era was marked by Hutu exploitation under the Tutsi elite. In 1959, the Hutu Peasant Revolt occurred, and power was transferred to the Hutu majority. Gaining both governmental power and freedom from Belgium by 1962, the Hutu majority proceeded to facilitate widespread discrimination against the Tutsis; this included education quotas and exclusion from high-powered jobs. These actions were grounded in the ideology known as the Hamitic Hypothesis which proposed that Tutsis were foreigners in Rwanda. This narrative spread and this theory of Hutu superiority would later go on to be the justification for the slaughter of over 800,000 Tutsis. It should be noted that while not classified as genocide, many moderate/sympathetic Hutus and Twas were also murdered in 1994, but because they were targeted for their beliefs, not their ethnicity, it doesn’t fall under the UN’s definition of genocide.
From this, we can see that inequality quickly festers and can create negative sentiments that span decades. At some point in time, both the Tutsi and Hutu people had power over the other and the poor treatment of those not in power resulted in the formation of identities and ideologies rooted in hatred of one another. The danger of nationalism can be seen in the way it pits groups of people against each other and fosters a revenge mentality. This creates a cycle of inequality that, if not addressed and fixed, can spiral as it did in Rwanda.
Rwanda. University of Minnesota: College of Liberal Arts. (n.d.). Retrieved October 13, 2022, from https://cla.umn.edu/chgs/holocaust-genocide-education/resource-guides/rwanda.
Ethiopia By Augie Alvarado
The main form of nationalism in Ethiopia is called Ethiopianism which refers to the political idea that the center of Ethiopian culture and way of life is the unification of Ethiopian identity. This has changed over time in drastic ways. It is most relevant to the current generation and this blog to discuss how nationalism in Ethiopia has changed from 2018 to now. From 1991 to 2018, Ethiopia ran on a system that promoted nationalism of multiple nations. It was declared that the rights of nations, nationalities, and peoples to further their culture and history within Ethiopia were developed in 1991. This allowed for the nationalism of everyone living in Ethiopia to be legally expressed and created a duty of the government to respect this right. The majority of the ethnic groups in Ethiopia were also given their own region within the country, the opportunity to administer themselves, develop their cultural/religious values freely, and use their own language. This regionalization created a sense of belonging for these groups and only added to nationalism and bondage among people. Education also played a large role in the increase of nationalism throughout Ethiopia. Public and private schools and universities have expanded greatly in Ethiopia; with it, education on individual and group rights began to be more widely known and practiced. Like education expansion, transportation and communication made the spreading of information like the Legal Basis rights much easier. Nationalism grew even more once some ethnic groups began to look at the actions of other larger groups and duplicate them. This act of role modeling included establishing local government associations, promoting the culture and language of a group, and the organization within a region of Ethiopia according to that ethnic group. All of these factors led to the introduction of “democratic nationalism” in Ethiopia. This meant that nationalism of each ethnic group would be promoted in a democratic way while extreme nationalism would be discouraged. Now, the government in Ethiopia is failing to gain control over the regions and ethnic groups that were allowed their own forms of authority. The promotion of nationalism was taken to the extreme where there is high demand for weapons, increasing conflict between regions, and even preparation for war.
Lemu, Assefa A. Nationalism in Ethiopia, 9 June 2019, http://www.aigaforum.com/article2019/Nationalism-in-Ethiopia.htm.
South Sudan By Marianne Hatley
Nationalism in the country of South Sudan has been full of ups and downs. Sta in 1918 with the southern provinces of South Sudan. In 1921, the United Tribes Society was created by a Muslim Dinka named Ali Abd al Latif. This nationalist organization rallied for South Sudan to become an independent country, which will be led by both tribes and religious authorities. Later on, the United Tribes Society rebranded as the White Flag League. However, the idea of nationalism in South Sudan essentially disappeared during the 1930s. After its decline during this era, nationalism was on the rise once again, especially with the desire and possibility for the unification of Sudan as one country and one people. Nationalism would then experience a decline again in 2011. Like many other countries around the world, inequality is present in the society of South Sudan. Gender inequality in South Sudan has actually experienced significant change within the past year. According to a report by the United Nations on women’s data, “as of February 2021, 28.5% of seats in parliament were held by women,” (UN Women). Although there has been much progress toward Women’s rights and protection in South Sudan, there is still a lot of inequality and change that needs to happen. In the same report by the United Nations, “in 2018, 26.7% of women aged 15-49 years reported that they had been subject to physical and/or sexual violence by a current or former intimate partner in the previous 12 months,” (UN Women). The mistreatment and abuse of women in South Sudan in South Sudan are still very prevalent. As stated in another article by the United Nation on the gender inequality context in South Sudan, “Half of all South Sudanese women are married off before they reach 18, and the country has the highest maternal mortality rate in the world,” (United Nations, 2022).
“South Sudan: ‘Hellish Existence’ for Women and Girls, New UN Report Reveals | | 1UN News.” United Nations, United Nations, https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/03/1114312.
Wël, PaanLuel. “Rise and Fall of Nationalism in South Sudan.” PaanLuel Wël Media Ltd – South Sudan, 30 Jan. 2017, https://paanluelwel.com/2017/01/30/rise-and-fall-of-nationalism-in-south-sudan/.
“Country Fact Sheet: UN Women Data Hub.” Country Fact Sheet | UN Women Data Hub, https://data.unwomen.org/country/south-sudan.
Kenya By Elena Perreira
For this week’s blog post I’m talking about the inequality that’s rooted in Kenya. Kenya, like a lot of other countries, has extreme inequality issues. poverty is still a big issue in Kenya and it affects more than millions of Kenya’s citizen lives. Because of this it’s hard for the poorer population of Kenya to send their kids to school. About 1 million elementary age kids can’t attend school. Because of this, Kenya has the 9th highest number of kids not going to school then the rest of the world. Moving onto gender inequality, it’s still very real in Kenya. Women in Kenya do not receive the same amount of respect as men do. Kenya’s higher ups have been holding back their women for a very long time and continue to do so. Deposit 96% of Kenya’s rural women working on farms only 6% of the women actually own land. As of now it doesn’t look like that part of Kenya culture is gonna change for women. It doesn’t get talked about a lot and it’ll get pushed aside for other issues. Despite there being a lot of inequity and families in poverty in Kenya, Kenya is still very much rooted in nationalism. Through Kenya’s wars and separation. Kenya has been a country that was able to come together because of nationalism. Kenya’s citizens were told by former President Jomo Kenyatta that all their hard work and them working are for their land and that they are helping it be stronger. He has also told them not to talk bad about others’ work because their work of the land will show who really cared for it. Former President Jomo Kenyatta might have brought Kenya’s citizens together but he also might have brought tension to his people.
Madagascar By Jayden Smith
As a post colonial state Madagascar is no stranger to the horrors of colonization and foreign influence. The unstable political landscape left in the wake of French oppression led to numerous uprising within the region throughout the years, all of which while being unsuccessful left unimaginable amounts of human damage in their wake, with one eye witness to the first large scale rebellion in Madagascar reporting “All outside communications had been cut and the streets were littered with bodies.” Fearing that this alleged act of nationalism would lead to further rebellions throughout their colonial territories, the French chose to begin a brutal repressive campaign to crush the resistance within the region, leaving an estimated 10,000 dead in its wake.
But why do we call these nationalist uprisings? While the powers that pulled the strings behind Madagascar would argue that these attacks were unjustified acts of nationalism, from another perspective you could see the actions taken by the locals were merely an attempt to free themselves from the shackles of colonial oppression and gain some small semblance of autonomy in their nation. It can be reasoned that the rise of nationalist ideology in most small post colonial states could stem from the social inequality that they experienced, and it is purely a way for them to justify their own existence to themselves after being belittled for so long. Given this information and the negative connotations with the term “nationalism” one may find it to be easier to refer to this type of ideology as something called “civic nationalism” a term which refers to the formation of a sense of national identity. I believe that this is the best way to describe nationalism in post colonial states these days, as it is a given that after having its national sense of identity suppressed for any given period of time, a nation would need to find its meaning again.
Leymarie, P. (1997, March 1). Madagascar: Nationalism or survival? Le Monde diplomatique. Retrieved October 14, 2022, from https://mondediplo.com/1997/03/01madagascar
R.T. Howard | Published in 29 Mar 2017. (n.d.). Revolt in Madagascar. History Today. Retrieved October 14, 2022, from https://www.historytoday.com/history-matters/revolt-madagascar
Singh, I. (1970, January 1). Civic nationalism in postcolonial states: A comparative analysis of civic nationalism in Mauritius, India and Sri Lanka. Digital Repository at the University of Maryland. Retrieved October 14, 2022, from https://drum.lib.umd.edu/handle/1903/14999